Structure for facilitating sorting and delivering of packages



Feb. 8, 1927. 1,616,693

- R. K. HAVIGHORST STRUCTURE FOR FACILITATING SOB-TING AND DELIVERING OF PACKAGES Filed March 24. 1925 k/v VEW 70/2 Russel fli-Hauq'yfibrstj Patented Fbps," 1927. 1

- esteem xe evwrwfi ner eL SLe tGe -EeJ HEQ N a i e sr ieoe FA I AT B iT L N P IWWW QE'PWKMF r Applicationfile'cP Mareh'2 hf1925. seriatno. 1,7,910.

This inventionparticularly pertains to a parts and- -li'eatures of the structuredier-ein H structure for fa cilitatingpsorting and -ha11 illustrated and described, it is pointed out .dling pf packages in "Inaking-parcel-delivthatfitis"customary in parcel deliverysyseries,;and especially r-elates' to a'structure "terns to theoretically divide an area, such as 5 whereby variously addressedzpackagesmay *a I city, throughout which the parcels: are ben anuallysorted and classified according 1 to be delivered, into alseries of generalfdisto their; places of delivery; trictsg', and to mapput a route or routes of An object of 'the' i'v'ention'is to provide j travel in each district vfor thewd-elivery vea struoture ofith-e, above character'which is 'hicle; the packages to be "delivered being 10 especially adapted 'for-use by concerns hav-fa'ddress ed to indicate their; destination rand ing occasion, to deliver a, great number of I then dlstrlbuted among the-several carriers packages ithin ax'shO-rt period of timeyaccording to'thee routesiiin which the pack- 3 throughout Zak large area as forexalnple, in ages are tobe deliVeredQ With thispractice the delivering of merchandise in large cities in Vlewtthei pl8sent' i ntion t pl t by department stores,- parcel delivery= organthe provision of a means jvvhereby a'flargen iz ati0ns,-and the -like; and"a particular Ob f collection of variously addressed packages 7 jeet' of'th'ef invention is '.to provide-a ineans accumulated preparatory to: delivery" may gwhereby considerabletime; labor and exbe readily se'gregatediinto afiseries of'main pensernay be saved in effecting the sorting, and general classifioations .011 groups. accord i 29 distributing, and" delivering; 0t 'nun1e rous i'ngfztocertain districts or routes .i'n-uvvhich' Ivariou'sly addressed packages, the paclgages'iareto beidelivered, and there-' "i Lfurth-er object'is to provide a -means 'la fter fdlvidingi(thegeneral classes into a whereby ailarge quantityof packages to be: :ser-les of sub-classes; iandvin providing a i delivere'dthroughoutza' city 1 inay b e read-' .meansk vvh-erebyithei package sa-in'ithe 'sub- 2 'ily sorted in readiness to b e plaoed;aboard-' classesxinay be: accumulated in. such mandelivery tluuclisl having-certain --de1-i'very iner thatvtheyflnayb-eeasilyloadedbntfiucks routes ;and whereby the parcels to be loaded]: 1I 1 thereversemrderof theirdelivery in o'eron a. particular truck to be delivered-in a m routes, as will now befully"described. certain district maybe-readily sub-classified Referringsto theidrawingsg'tf indicates an 30 go that they a ,be packedfin th truck in f endless; conveyor. to which anea' ggregation V "the; reverse .order of-their unloading, 1 and -'o -var10usly addressed ;packages;are-de1ivarranged so. that they may be unloaded in ered' for, preliminary markingyone: or more the order of. their ,delivery throughoutfthe a nd nts a ?this conveyor: placing-on the i route of the truck. i a ;fpackages suitable code'numbers orother in- 35 @Themdd 6f rrying out the 'f olegoingddlfi lfii des1gnating certain districts in which .objeot sraswell assuch'objects, features and the packagesar'edtobe delivered. The con- I advant-ageslo f the invention as ma'y subsevey'or belt. designed-tube mainta'ined in Y :quently appear ishereinafter described andflllQt Qn' during operation for which purpose 7 V "is {illustrated by-vvay of example in the acbe driven by anvsuitableniechanisin o bm n i g drawings in; which} the several andfrom; anysuitable .sourceliof power.

fllviwsj d icf, .eonstructionsjand {arrange- Extending alongytheeupperlead of the f nen 'o e m t d'Pa t e yth in eonveyor belt on anplane:.therebeneathiis Y vention inaybe carried-into e'fiect. f aaralsed platform .11 on which: oneo-r more Referring to the d i th v ral {attendants may; stand Whose functions are 4P5 'z n' if 11 s; f into removeuthe inarked epackages fromfthe "Figure lis a vi'ewr in transversevertical conveyor. belt aswi ll presently bis-described section illustratingthe nianner' of manually -Erected to one :side of the platforinzlfds effecting segregation of the packages, into; a structure indicated generallyat12enibodygeneral classes and sub-classes; ing I1L11l1610L1S bins or: receptacles ltol receive 50' nFiguregis'a vieivfiepicting the'rnannerin the packages removed. from th'eeonveyor I- WlIl Cll the sub dividedpackages maybe c0n belt; there being aseriesof binsl3-arranged ,veniently loaded'on a truck in readines's for in horizontally extending'rows adjacent the delivery. platforin' 11 convenientfltothe reach of the ln order that the invention may be-read attendants and into *Which, certain of the =55 ily comprehended; and a' 'clea'r understand- ;,paekages removed from the conveyor belt are f in heed 9f t r ree e z fj' h i ?-Y@ *tF P d *Th 'st wm s e e' qv as provided with two ,i'ows ofthebins 13 but the number of such rows may be increased or diminished as'occasion may require. The bins 13 are marked singly or in groups inaccordance with the code markings employed on the packages to indicate the clined shelf 29 the lower margin of which terminates adjacent the bins 13 which shelf districts in which the packages are to be delivered; therebeing at least one bin 13 pro vided for-each delivery district intowhich a certain territory is divided- A. runway or aisle 14: is provided at the V rearof the bins 13 the floor of which comprises a platform 15 -on which attendants may stand and leadingfrom the runway opposite the bins 13 is a series of groups of downwardly inclined chutes 16which are *adapted to constitutebins for the reception of packages removed from the bins 13; there being a group of the chutes 16 provided for 'each of the bins 13 and eachchute of the ,group' is marked to designate some portion of aroute" 1n the district represented by the bin. 7

Each group of the chutes 16 includes a plurality of superimposed chutes as indicated at a, b, 0, and d, as particularly shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lower ends of whichchutes are fitted with hinged closure panels 17; 18, 19 and 20, respectively. The lowermost chutes a terminate ingspaced'relation to a floor: 21 and the closure panels '17 thereof are hinged at 22 to swing downwardly into a horizontal position to form a table, as shown in Figure 2; there beingrlegs 23 hinged at 24 on the closure panels 17 adapted to rest.

on the floor 21 to support thepanels in the table forming position. The closure panels, 19 on the chutes c are hinged at 25 to swing downwardly and are adapted to be positioned to extend horizontally as shown in Figure2 to form a table'in superimposed relation to the closure panel 17 there being legs 26 hinged at 27 on the panels 19 adapted 1 Hto seaton the top of'thepanels 1-7 when the latter are extended horizontally to maintain r the panels 19 in their table forming posi+ tion.' Thepanels 19 are of'less width than removing packages from the upper panel.

' The closure panels 18 and20 are: hinged at their upper edges to-swlng outwardly at the1r lower OCl IQS. Suitable catches are provided :for holding the several closure panels 'in their closed positions.

Extending beneath the lower chute, a is a large lncllned chute 28 the lower end of wh ch terminates a'd acent the flo'or 21 and I the upper port-ion of which extends beneath qtheplatforn 15 and opens adjacent the platiformcll', which chute is providedfor, the reception of packages too bulky or heavy to more of the bins '13, or for each tier of'the' chutes 16. p I

Arranged'above the'runway 14 is an 1nalfords a place for the reception of overflow packages.

Itwill now be seen that by the construction and arrangementof the structure 12 as set forth herein, there will be provided a series of bins or groups of bins 13 adjacent that there -will be provided a series of groups ofchutes 16 back of the bins 13 with a group of such chutes associated with a bin orgrou-p of bins 13.

' 'In employing the invention, the addressed packages are-.depositedonthe conveyor 7 wherean attendant observes the address on a package and marks it with a symbol adoptedto designate the particular district in which the package is to be delivered and thereafter the package onthe conveyor belt -'will be carried to'an attendant on the platform 11 who occupiesa position near a bin orbins 13 bearing the symbol corresponding to that marked on the'package, and who on 29 thereabove to be later deposited in the V bin 13 when thespace is provided therein o to receive it In this manner the various packages will be segregated into a number of general classes according to the various districts in which they are to be delivered;

the packages thus segregated being accumulated, should occasion require, in 'the several code marking thereon, The attendantthen deposits the "packages in certain 'of the chutes a, b, 0 and d, of the group of Chutes shown in Figure 1; the closure panelsat the ends of the chutes being closed to retain the packages within the chutes. In this manner the general classes of packages deposited in the bins 13 are separated into a series of sub-classes. This sub-dividing of the class of packages may be carried out to the lower panel 17 as shown in Figure '2.

any desired extent by providing a suitable number of the chutes a, b, 0 and cl in a group of such chutes. I

The packages tobe delivered at the beginnin-got a 'route are placed in the uppermost chute or chutes (Z of a group and those that are to be delivered in intermediate portions of a route are spaced in intermediate chutes 0 and 6, while packages that are to be delivered in the end portion of a route are placed in a lower chute a. In loading the packages on a truck for delivery, the truck is backed and positioned adjacentthe discharge ends of the chutes. The attendant lowers the closure panel 17 into its table forming position thereby opening the lower chute a so that the packages in this chute will be discharged on to .the table from whence they are removed and placed in the forward portionof the truck whereupon the closure panels 18 are opened to permit the packages in the chute b to be delivered to the table 17 from whence they are'removed and replaced in order adjacent the stack of packages previously placed on the truck. The table forming closure 19 of the chute 0 is then swung downwardly into its table forming position so that the packages in this chute will be delivered thereto from whence they are removed and placed in the truck in their order. The closure panel 20 of the up-' per chute a is then opened to deliver the packages to the upper table panel 19 which packages are then arranged in the rear portion of the truck.

The packages are thus arranged in the' so that the packages' to be delivered-,at the beginning of a route may be conveniently reached and removed without disturbingthe packages in the truck to be delivered there-' after. .t t y V In order to conveniently reach the packages von the panel 19 the attendant may stand on the ledge .tormed by the outermargin of In loading the truck the attendant first removes the packages from the lower chutes in such manner that they will be distributed with the packages loaded from the chutes 16.

I claim:-'- r 1. In a structure of the character described, a group; of superimposed inclined chutes, panels for closing the lower ends of said chutes, and means 'whereby the panel for closing the lowermost chute is adapted to serve as a table onpositioning same to open the chute.

2. In a structure, of the character ,de-'

scribed, a group of superimposed inclined ing the lowermost chute being hinged'to swing outwardly and downwardly from the end of the chute adapted to extend hor'izontally to form a table and the panel for closing a superimposed chute being adapted to be extended. to form a table in superposed relation to the other table forming panel.

r 3. In a structure of the character described, a group of superimposed inclined chutes, a plurality of hinged panels at'the lower ends of said chutes adapted to be swung outwardlyand downwardly into horizontally extending positions to form a plurality of superimposed tables, and means for supporting said panels in their horizontal positions.

RUSSEL nnvicnonsr. 

